RPT-China Nov home prices rise 12.6 pct y/y, monthly growth halves

Reuters Staff

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BEIJING, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Average new home prices in China’s 70 major cities rose 12.6 percent in November from a year earlier, accelerating slightly from a 12.3 percent increase in October, an official survey showed on Monday.

Compared with a month earlier, home prices rose 0.6 percent, slowing from October’s 1.1 percent, according to Reuters calculations from data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing prices rose 27.9 percent, 29.0 percent and 26.4 percent, respectively, from a year earlier, but their monthly pace slowed significantly as local governments’ tightening measures took effect.

China has depended on a surging real estate market and government stimulus to drive growth this year, but policymakers have become concerned that property frenzy will fuel price bubbles and risk a market crash.

Government curbs seem to be working, with home sales and new property investment slowing significantly in November. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk and Yawen Chen; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)